New Beginings
by twinstarz
Summary: After years, Akari and Hikaru meet again. Hikaru/Akari
1. New Begining

When they were younger, they knew everything about each other. Dreams, fears and nightmares. What each other liked, and didn't like.

Up till they were ten, eleven, they were true best friends. She was the only one who knew he had wet his bed when he was nine after they had secretly watched that horror movie, he was the only one who had known where to look for her after her parents had announced that they were divorcing.

Now, ten years after that golden friendship, and almost five years from not seeing even his face, Akari Fujisaki had to fumble for words to say as she stood face to face with Hikaru Shindou.

He hadn't changed, she noticed. He looked more grown up, and he was handsome, obviously, like she knew he would be. Other than that, he would have been recognizable from twenty feet away.

It was because he still bleached his bangs, she decided.

"You look . . . good today." Hikaru flushed awkwardly as he smiled at her.

Akari smiled wryly, thinking how different this greeting was than the one that might have been exchanged if they had continued side by side on the road of life.

"You too." She smiled brightly. "What have you been up to lately?"

"You wouldn't believe it!" Hikaru exclaimed. "The Go World has really been full of challenges lately. The new pros are actually worthy opponents – unlike the old men who are still clinging to their only title."

This was just like her Hikaru, Akari thought. Enthusiastic, loud – well, he probably hadn't changed. Just their relationship had.

"Oh right," Hikaru continued. "I forget to ask. Are you still reading Weekly Go?"

Akari shook her head. "Actually . . ." she cleared her throat. "I've just come back from studying for a year in America. Didn't my mother tell you?"

Hikaru looked surprised. "Oh, really? No wonder I haven't seen you the last few times I've dropped by the neighborhood." Seeing Akari's confused look, he continued. "Well, I thought you knew - I've been living on my own for a few months now. I only visit home once or twice a week, so I don't really know what happens around anymore."

"Oh, I see." Akari felt a slight tug at her heart. She knew that after this meeting, they probably wouldn't be seeing each other for another year or two. The divide between them had finally grown into a chasm that was uncrossable.

"So, you still play go, right?" Hikaru's voice broke through her thoughts, and their eyes met.

His eyes were green, and warm, looking at her with genuinely like he still thought that they weren't random strangers who had bumped into each other on the street.

Akari flushed a little as she answered. "Well . . . I do, sort of. I play Internet go. In America" here she gestured with her hands "go isn't that big, and I couldn't really find any live people to play with."

Hikaru nodded, and smiled. "I'm glad you still play it though. How good do you think you are?"

Akari hesitated, thinking. "I don't know . . . a good amateur?" she guessed. "Anyways, I'm nowhere near your level."

Hikaru grabbed her hand. "You never know," he said, with a mischievous look in his eye. "Care for a game? I'd love to hear about America."


	2. Grocery Shopping

If I owned Hikaru no Go, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction

* * *

_So,_ Hikaru mused, cleaning up the Go board. It was almost five thirty, and Akari had gone to see if there was anything in the kitchen for her to make dinner with.

_America has good education, great atmosphere and cute guys, huh?_

Just then, the cupboard door slammed shut with a bang, and Hikaru jumped up and hurried to the kitchen.

Akari was standing in front of the shelves, arms crossed. "Hikaru, instant ramen is _not_ food."

"Yes it is! I survive on it!" Hikaru protested. Look- " Hikaru grabbed the plastic wrapped bowl from Akari and started reading. "Calories: 260, Protein: 50 grams, salt: 2 grams-"

"Come on." Akari cut him off, rolling her eyes. "We're going grocery shopping."

* * *

Akari leaned over the cart, pulled open the door of the one of the fridges and peered inside. "Hikaru" she called. "Come over here. What do you like?" _That was a stupid question. _She lectured herself. _Hikaru's probably going to say something like "I like food" _

Hikaru ambled over, hands in pockets. Seeing what Akari was holding – frozen pizzas – his face broke into a smirk.

"So _this_ is your idea of real food, huh?"

Akari stuck out her tongue. "No, it's not. It's food for you on normal days, because I know you don't know how to cook."

_Honestly, _she added silently _It's not like I'm living with you as your maid or your live in girlfriend . . . . _

Hikaru pretended to be insulted, an indignant look spreading across his face. "I know how to cook!" He cried, defending himself.

"Of course" Akari replied dryly, smiling and shaking her head. "That's why you only have instant noodles which cause cancer or whatever at your apartment. Now, could you please put these in the cart for me?" she said, commanding more than asking as she jabbed him with a nice, long, manicured (and sparkly) nail.

Grumbling, Hikaru obliged, muttering something unintelligible.

"Hey! Shindou!" A voice cut through the noise of other shoppers, and both Hikaru and Akari turned.

"Waya!" Hikaru turned around, and grinned when he saw the guy with spiky brown hair. "What's up? Grocery shopping by yourself? Sure you won't buy anything toxic?"

Waya scowled at Hikaru. "Don't remind me" he said darkly, and Hikaru laughed.

Watching them, Akari felt slightly left out. Well, she felt really left out. Fidgeting with the hem of her shirt, her eyes flicked over "Waya" giving him the Manhattan once-over. (1) _Cute, _she thought. _But definitely not as cute as Hikaru. _

She could feel the heat of the blush that hit her cheeks, and ducked her head to hide it. Not that she really needed to, because the two boys were too wrapped up in their heated debate on why/why not Touya Akira was/was not stuck up.

Akari frankly had no idea how the conversation had moved from eating poisonous foods to the up-and-coming star of the Go world, but she didn't really care. She was waiting for Hikaru to remember his manners and introduce her to his friend before the world ended. Seriously, it felt like she would be a third wheel forever.

Suddenly, as if on cue, Hikaru turned and remembered Akari.

"Oh right. Waya, this is my friend Fujisaki Akari, Akari this is Yoshitaka Waya." He said, incredibly formal.

"Nice to meet you, Waya-san." Akari smiled charmingly, "Are you a friend of Hikaru's from the Go Institute?"

"Umm, yeah." Waya flushed. He hadn't spoken to such a cute girl in a veeeery long time. Maybe it was time to start going to group dates again . . . Nah, he decided. Better to avoid the embarrassment, he thought, remembering the last time he'd gone on a group date. "Nice to meet you too, Fujisaki-san. Do you play go?"

"She plays a little." Hikaru butted in, not liking how the conversation was beginning to exclude him.

"You wanna play a game with me sometime?" Waya asked smoothly, ignoring Hikaru. No way was he letting Hikaru ruin his chances with Fujisaki-san. After all, how often did you meet a (cute) girl who played go?

"Of course." Akari replied. "But you'd have to be easy on me – I'm only an amateur" she added.

_Score!_ Waya thought. Then, noticing Hikaru's slightly peeved expression, his mind began to wander. Was Hikaru . . . jealous? It was hard to imagine it, but Hikaru's expression right now . . . Waya trailed of thoughtfully, reflecting.

What if Fujisaki-san was already Hikaru's girlfriend? They called each other by their first names, and they were grocery shopping together . . .

Waya added one and one and came up with two thousand, six hundred and fifty four.

Poor Hikaru.

* * *

Akari waved bye to Waya-san, who really was actually very nice, and turned to Hikaru.

"Oh come on," she said. "What's with that expression?"

Hikaru scowled. "You were _deliberately_ excluding me from the conversation because I didn't introduce you at the beginning." He accused.

Akari feigned innocence. "Why would I do that?"

". . ." Hikaru shook his head and smiled. "We really haven't changed that much, have we?"

Akari grinned, pushing the cart along. "Nope, you haven't. Don't know 'bout me though. You're still the loud, obnoxious, brat you were when you were little. I remember that time when . . ."

"Akari!" Hikaru exclaimed. "There areother people nearby that can hear you! And what you're saying about me isn't . . . very nice."

Akari tsked. "Weak comeback Hikaru, weak." She chided playfully. "Don't you have something better than that?"

"Of course" Hikaru replied without missing a beat. "But I'm too much of a gentleman to say insulting things to a lady."

Akari snorted. "Yeah, right. Now do you want soya milk or fruit juice? No coke, because I know that's all you ever drink."

* * *

A/N: (1) The "Manhattan once-over" is when you look at people's appearance and judge them by their clothess . . . from Confessions of a Shopaholic ; )

Chapter 2 is done! Yay! Thanks for reading, everyone. __ It was mostly pure pointless fluff to develope Hikaru and Akari's relationship, and progress the plot . . . a little . . . ok, I lied. This story will have a plot though, promise ^^ ;; thanks to my sister for editing and making me write, and thanks also to all the people who reviewed the first chapter. I _strongly encourage _people to review. reviews keep me writing and they make me happy : D


	3. Verbal Diarrhea

Disclaimer: I don't own Hikaru no Go, I don't own Hikaru, I don't own Akari, and I definitely don't own Akira. *goes to cry in a corner*

* * *

**Verbal Diarrhea  
**

It was common knowledge that you didn't tell any of the younger, talkative pros (read: Waya, Saeki and Shindou) your personal secrets, because by the end of your game, old Kuwabara would be laughing in your face, Ogata would be openly smirking at you, and Sakaruno would be telling everyone why you were "so cute when you were little!" every five minutes.

Obviously, Shindou had never learnt this lesson (maybe it was because he himself was one of those people that always seemed to have verbal diarrhea?) because in the morning, half an hour before his game was to start, Touya heard a conversation between a group of inseis that sounded somewhat like this:

"Did you know? Shindou-san's girlfriend is from America! They say her English is really good. Do you think she's Japanese or actually American?"

"She's probably Japanese, because – "

"Maybe she has blond hair and blue eyes!"

"Brown hair's more common in the States . . . I think"

"American? Is she? I just heard that Shindou-san's fiancée was really pretty. Hey, do you think we'll get to see her?"

"What? Shindou-sama _can't _be getting married! He's mine!"

"Ummm . . . don't you like Touya-san?"

"Well, Touya's a better player, but Shindou-sama's sooooo cute . . . . he has this . . .. rugged sexy look, you know? Anyways, he's more my type. Noooooooooooo, he can't be getting married!"

"Wha? Did someone just say Shindou-4-dan and married in the same sentence?"

"Uh-huh. Shindou-sama's getting _married._"

"Yeah? Who told you?"

". . . I heard it from Risa-chan who heard it from Uchida-kun who was talking to Saeki-san, who goes to the same study group as Shindou. You're not questioning my sources, are you?"

"Hey! Isn't that Touya Akira?"

[At this point, all the people in the small group in the corner of the room whipped their heads around, and spotting the young pro, they all squealed, (3 of them) fainted, (two of them) or jumped back into the conversation (the only guy there)]

"You should go ask him if the rumours are true - he's Shindodu-san's rival, so he should know!"

"_The _Touya Akira? No way. _You _go ask him. Aren't you his die-hard fan?"

"_I'll_ go ask him."

"No! Don't! You'll scare him off!"

"What are you talking about? Riika-desu has never scared anyone in her entire life! And she'd never scare her idol."

And so Touya Akira, sneaking stealthily out of the room, managed to (finally) perfect his running-away-from-rabid-fangirls skills. Okay, sort of. Did gossiping inseis count as fangirls? Well, both groups were just as dangerous, Touya figured.

* * *

Ichiwaka's day had been going really well. She'd managed to stop fangirls from coming into the parlor to harass her poor Akira-kun, something she was really proud of. (Really, it was her maternal instinct)

But the best thing to happen so far was that it had been almost an hour and a half since Akira-kun and Shindou-kun had started their game again, but they still hadn't started screaming at each other yet. And she really hoped that they wouldn't fight today . . .

Hikaru's day had been great so far too. Actually, it'd been terrific (It had stopped raining after god knows how long and he'd finally managed to win a bet against Waya, earning an easy 10 dollars.)

Now, though, it was a totally different story. Staring across the goban at Touya, his hand twitching slightly, Hikaru tried to close his mouth.

"Touya," he said, as politely as he could. "Did I just hear you say that I was getting _married????_ And, if you don't mind telling, who told you this?"

Touya gulped, and considered lying. Bad idea, he decided. People always tended to find out when he was lying – and just him. He didn't think he was _that_ bad at lying . . . sure, he sucked at poker, but honestly, Shindou didn't even know what a pokerface _was_.

"Well . . ." he began, "IoverheardafewinseisayingyouhadanamericanfianceeandYouknow whatIreallyhavetogotothewashroomrightnow."

And Touya rushed out of the room, leaving behind a very confused, high-strung, and ready-to-kill-Waya Hikaru.

HnGo

Most of Akari's visitors expected Akari's house to be clean and tidy – after all, it was small, and therefore easier to take care off, and Akari herself was known as a more organized sort of person

But . . . Akari's apartment was always really messy.

As she glared at the papers on her desk and massaged her temple, Akari really wished that she had inherited some of her Mother's organizing skills.

"Address . . . address . . ." she muttered, sifting through the papers. "Here it is!" She triumphantly pulled out a slightly crumpled sheet of paper and smoothed it out. Then, stuffing it into her purse and checking her appearance in the mirror one more time, she glanced around the apartment and left, locking the door.

The _Weekly Go's _headquarters was like any normal office building, with slate white whiles and sharp bright lighting, but Akari's stomach tied up in knots as she walked through the office floor, following Amaya-san.

"Here you go," gestured the petite lady. "Just go in. Masao-san is expecting you."

Akari smiled and nodded her thanks and entered the brightly lit office, closing the door quietly behind her.

Masao-san was a balding, heavyset man, in his late fifties, she guessed. He rubbed out a cigarette as she entered. _He kind of looks like a bald eagle, _Akari thought to herself, giggling.

She immediately straightened up and scolded herself. _Professional, Akari._ She reminded herself. _Professional. _

"Sit down" Masao-san said, gesturing to the chair across him. He opened a drawer and took out some papers – her resume? And scrutinized her

So . . ." he began again. "You have quite an impressive resume. You were an intern at the New York Times?"

Akari flushed. "Only for two years."

Masao nodded thoughtfully. "You're applying for the position of junior reporter?"

Akari nodded, unsure of what to say.

"Well, seeing your experience on paper . . . I think that you'd be a really good addition to our team. However, I don't hire people so easily, so do you mind if I give you a trail assignment and see how you do first?"

The question was rhetorically really, but Akari nodded. "I'd be glad to try this out," she said, worrying and wondering if she sounded over-confident.

"That's perfect." Masao-san smiled. "Komiya-san is busy covering the Meijin's wins in the amateur tournament in Korea, so we don't have anyone to cover this year's Samsung cup. Since you speak English, I'm sure you'll have an easier time communicating."

Akari almost fainted. The Samsung cup? This guy was practically hiring her! _Yes! No worrying about the rent for the next two months! _

"Of course," Masao-san continued, "you'll be accompanied by another reporter, Kosemaru-san, who does this sort of thing a lot. No need to be nervous."

"Oh, no . . . of course not." Akari said weakly. Her mind was still spinning.

"Now . . . applying for a job at a magazine about _Go,_ you probably know all about the game and tournaments don't you?"

'Well, yes," Akari replied "The Samsung cup was created two years ago by a Chinese-based company. The cup is world-wide, and open to players of any nationality. The purpose was to open an international arena for young adults, who don't have much of a chance to compete internationally associations tend to chose older, more experienced players to represent them at international tournaments. The Samsung Cup is based of the Hokuto cup - "

Akari was cut of my Masao-san handing her a file, a smile on his face.

"Well, it looks like you really know your stuff." He said. Continuing on, he gestured at the folder

"Take a look at that file – it's full of the top seeds expected to represent their countries. For your first task, I want you to interview all the Japanese candidates. Their personal numbers, addresses and schedules are all in there. You have exactly one week to meet, interview, and write a short blurb on all of them. If you have any questions, you can ask the layout editor and junior coordinator, the person who showed you in – Amaya-san. At the end of the week, I'll introduce you to Kosemaru-san, and the two of you will work together to cover this tournament for the next two months. He's very reliable and hard-working, so I'm sure to two of you will get along very well."

Masao-san finished speaking, and Akari stopped scribbling in her notebook. "I promise you won't be disappointed," She said, capping her pen and standing up, bowing towards him.

"Oh – one more thing," Masao-san called out as Akari's hand touched the doorknob. "I'm giving you three quarters of a junior reporter's pay check while you work for us these next two months. Is that alright with you?"

For Akari, who had expected nothing at all for this trail run, it was _perfectly_ fine.

* * *

Akari hadn't really known what to expect when she opened the folder that Masao-san had given her, but what she did know was that she hadn't expected to see a picture of Hikaru looking back at her.

Flipping through his private information (just for fun) Akari found it amusing that Shindou was considered the 'wild card' to qualify for this tournament. With Shindou's recent streak of wins, she'd thought that he would at least be labeled as "top seed" or something. Seemed like Shindou's reputation as 'unreliable' still stayed after more than a few years after _that._ After all, although Shindou's playing was sometimes under-par when he wasn't feeling well, he

The next profile, was predictable, Touya's, and he was classified as "#1." Well whoever had put together these profiles was definitely a Touya fan.

Checking her watch, Akari decided it was time to start cracking


	4. Side Story 1: Greenwaves

Disclaimer: I don't own Hikaru no Go, its characters or even the character designs . . .

* * *

Side Story 1: Greenwaves

_I remember a meadow, one morning in May._

_With a sky full of dreams, that sailed in that day. _

_I was dancing through green waves of grass like the sea_

_And for a moment in time, I could feel . . . I was free. _

"Hikaru! Wait up for me! You're always so mean!" A little girl, five or six years old, dressed in a light pink sundress, chased after a black haired boy of the same age, who, in contrast, was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. "It's not my fault you're slow," Hikaru explained. "Well it's not _my _fault okaa-san dressed me up like this!" exclaimed Akari.

Hikaru sighed. 'Well, there's nothing much we can do with you in a dress – no running, no wading, no _nothing_." He shot a longing glance at the creek, which was one of their favourite places to hide. Akari sighed and flopped to the ground. After a brief moment of silence, she spoke up, barely audible. "Hikaru . . . come on. It's nice down here." "Nope." The boy replied. "Please?" the girl asked, eyes growing wide. "I promise you'll like it." A soft thump was her reply, and Akari smiled.

"See? Don't you like it? It just feels so nice – looking at the sky and hey, does that cloud look like what I think it looks like?!?" Akari bolted up, finger pointing to one of the clouds drifting above. Following her finger, Hikaru scrunched up his face and screwed up his eyes. "Nope . . . doesn't look like anything . . . actually, you're right! It looks like one of those thingies, you know, the ones grandpa puts down on that board of his when he plays his favourite game with Okamura-san!" Akari sighed, and decided it wouldn't really matter if she told Hikaru that he wasn't looking at the cloud she was looking at – the one that looked like the puppy she'd wanted to get for ages.

"Hey, Akari?" Hikaru asked, breaking her train of thought. "What day is it today?" "Hmmmm?" she replied, glancing at him. "I think it's the fifth of May."

_There are waves of forgiveness, and waves of regret_

_And the first waves of true love, I'll never forget_

_In the meadow, that morning as I wandered alone_

_There were green waves of yearning, for life, still unknown _

_

* * *

  
_

A/N: How was it guys? This is my apology present for not updating _New Beginnings_ in two months . . . (sorry!) This is a songfic, and the song I used was Greenwaves, in case you're curious or something. :) Anyways, hope you liked it! ^^ You guys know the drill - read, reply, review. I WILL BE VERY HAPPY IF YOU REVIEW


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